Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 7.djvu/42

 SADHS. (348)

Y the official description, the Sadhs appear to be rather a limited sect than a separate tribe, since any Hindoo of good caste can enter it, and it contains Brahmins, Bunneas, Cheepers or dyers, goldsmiths, and many others. The word "Sadh" signifies "truth," and the Sadhs worship truth after their own fashion. They do not reverence idols, or the sacred rivers Ganges or Jumna, or join with other Hindoos in religious rites. They do not acknowledge any Hindoo incarnations of divinity, but profess to worship truth only as a deity. They never salute any one, even of the highest rank, and if any one salutes them, they never return the compliment. If it be possible, they may be termed Hindoo Quakers, in the affected purity and simplicity of their observances. They are not abundant, and are confined to Futtehgurh, Benares, and a few districts of the North-West Provinces, and are not known in other parts of India. They abstain from meat and spirits, and live upon grain, fruits, vegetables, and milk, like Brahmins. Their marriage ceremonies are peculiar: large assemblies or fairs are held by the tribe, when numbers collect, and from among the women gathered together a youth selects his bride, and their union is accomplished without any particular ceremony. The women are not married until they attain full age, and are at liberty to choose for themselves. They are not secluded after marriage, and have the reputation of being very- faithful to their husbands. Sadhs are in general merchants and traders, and are very steady and successful in these pursuits; some of them, however, are farmers. They have no temples or set places of worship; but what their peculiar tenets are is not generally known, nor are they desirous of giving information in regard to them. It does not appear either that they have any regular priests or expounders of doctrine, these offices being exercised by their elders.